


The Cause & Effect of Lies

by Cyn_Finnegan



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: 'Cause he's done with his father's shit too, Adrien emancipation, Alya FINALLY wises up, And Then Some, Bullying, Gabriel Salt, Hurt/Comfort, Lila Rossi Bashing, Lila Rossi's Lies Are Exposed, Lila is a big fat liar, MAJOR Lila salt, Mari is done with Lila's bullshit, Minor Alya salt, Multi, Physical Abuse, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Protective Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Some Chloe salt, They figure it out for themselves, based on another fic, injured marinette, lila gets her comeuppance, no identity reveal, so is Adrien, various points of view
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-10-13 03:00:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20575346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cyn_Finnegan/pseuds/Cyn_Finnegan
Summary: After six months of Lila's lies, physical abuse and emotional torture, and no support except from Adrien and few others, Marinette's parents put her in for a transfer from Collège Françoise Dupont, with Adrien following suit on his own.On their last day, Lila attacks Marinette, shoving the pig-tailed girl down the stairs, claiming Mari attacked her.  Too bad Adrien was a witness to what happened...Based on/inspired by "Monsters Are Within," by DaniMeows.





	The Cause & Effect of Lies

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Monsters Are Within](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18284009) by [DaniMeows](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaniMeows/pseuds/DaniMeows). 

**The Cause & Effect of Lies**

**Author:** Cyn Finnegan

**Beta:** None

**Disclaimer:** I don’t own Miraculous Ladybug or any of the characters. They belong to Thomas Astruc, Jeremy Zag, and ZagToonz. I only like to play with them.

**Rating:** T

**Status:** WIP

**Pairings:** Adrinette strongly implied

**Warnings:** Bullying, Moderate Violence, Physical Intimidation, Psychological Harassment, Sexual Harassment.

**Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Chat Noir © ZagToonz, 2019. Used without permission and not for profit.**

*******

**Chapter One: Alya Finally Wises Up**

Alya Césaire stared at the blank computer screen in front of her, unsure of what to write. She knew posting an apology on the Ladyblog, telling Marinette how sorry she was for disregarding and bullying her wouldn't cut it, even though she was very sorry. Both her blog and her reputation were in ruins, and though she'd never acknowledge it, it was her own damned fault.

_I should have listened to you, Mari. God, I'm the_ worst_ best friend ever_, Alya thought, her eyes welling up as she buried her face in her hands and sobbed for the fifth time that day.

Lila Rossi's many lies had caught up with her that morning when an akuma attacked, causing everyone under its influence to spill their deepest, darkest secrets, targeting the Italian brat first. However, there was no Ladybug coming to the rescue this time, just Chat Noir in a Ladybug suit, and he hadn't felt like speaking to the press after using the miraculous cure.

**Lila** had targeted Marinette, **not** the other way around.

**Lila** took pleasure in watching as the students of Mlle. Bustier's class turned against their representative and "dear friend," save for Adrien Agreste and a few others.

**Lila** was the one working with Hawkmoth because she loathed Ladybug and Chat Noir, and dreamed of killing the heroes of Paris.

And after six months of her physical abuse, emotional abuse, and psychological torture of Marinette, including shredding one of the young designer's sketchbooks, Lila shoved her down a flight of stairs inside the school.

Where was Lila now? At the local _centre de détention_, awaiting trial on charges of attempted murder. Since the judge deemed her a potential flight risk, he saw fit to have her passport confiscated. After discovering Lila's misdeeds, her own parents disowned her and begged the Embassy to revoke any diplomatic immunity she might have. She'd been exposed for who and what she was, so no one would ever trust or believe her again. She'd also attacked French citizens on French soil and, with luck, she would be punished.

In a way, though, Lila had won.

Two weeks earlier, Mlle. Bustier announced Marinette's parents were pulling her out of school. Angered by their daughter's mistreatment by many of the students and some of the faculty, the red-haired teacher included, Tom Dupain and Sabine Cheng demanded M. Damocles put their only child in for a transfer from _Collège Françoise Dupont_ to _Collège Jeanne d'Arc_. They had excellent Art, Design, and Music programs, and a zero-tolerance policy on bullying, both of which Marinette needed now.

The day after, she announced that Adrien was transferring to the other school as well, and only Marinette and Chloe knew it was sans his father's knowledge or consent. For some reason Alya couldn't fathom, he wanted to get as far away from Lila as he could. She couldn't understand why he yelled at the Italian for invading his personal space, and didn't know that Lila dug her claws into Adrien's arms every time she latched on to them like a barnacle, and it hurt.

On their last day, Friday, Lila pushed Marinette down the stairs near their class, claiming Marinette attacked her first. There were superficial scratches on the Italian girl's arms; scratches Alya now knew were because Marinette tried to fight off her attacker when she'd been thrown down the stairs.

In their concern over "poor, _innocent_ Lila," most of the rest of the students and faculty hadn't noticed or cared that an unconscious Marinette was being carted off on a gurney by EMTs. In fact, the ones still under Lila's spell all blamed Marinette for her own predicament, Alya included. Lila began to spin a sob story worthy of an Oscar, once again calling Marinette a bully and claiming the black-haired girl attacked her.

She would have gotten away with it again, too, if it wasn't for one small detail... an eyewitness by the name of Adrien Agreste.

Being the only witness, Adrien told a sympathetic Lt. Raincomprix what he knew; that Marinette was the one who'd been attacked, not Lila, and that Mari had healing injuries from other encounters with the Italian girl, and of Lila's threats against him. The ones still supporting Lila, Alya included, would have turned against him, too, as soon as he returned to class, but he'd boarded the ambulance and went to the hospital with Marinette for his own safety.

When Alya first found out Marinette was leaving Françoise Dupont, she was happy, because if she was capable of hurting Lila, she wasn't the girl Alya thought she was. Alya wondered if she'd ever known her at all, though that wasn't right, either.

Marinette _was_ the girl Alya once believed she was; a sweet one filled with love and kindness, a girl who'd been trying to tell her the truth all along.

_Her best friend._

It was _Alya_ who wasn't the girl she thought she was.

A new girl breezed into Paris with sweet lies on her tongue, talking about celebrities she'd never met and connections she'd never made. The new girl plied the blogger with promises to help her network with professional journalists and help her achieve her dreams. In that instant, she'd begun to turn her back on her supportive best friend.

Lila only told Alya what she'd wanted to hear, and the star struck reporter hadn't bothered to verify her sources. She forced that responsibility off on Marinette like she and Nino started forcing their babysitting duties off on the overworked, stressed out girl. All without paying her, on Lila's "helpful" suggestion.

During Monday morning's classes, Mlle. Bustier announced that Marinette had woken up. That afternoon, a still angry Alya bulled her way into the injured girl's room, armed with a box full of things Marinette had left at her house during their sleepovers. She found Adrien there, too, sitting at her bedside, and unleashed her venom on them both.

She'd accused Marinette of doing to Lila everything Lila had done to her, the threats, the nasty notes, the tripping and abuse, and then accused Adrien of covering Mari's "crimes" up for her. She even repeated Lila's latest ridiculous rumor, that Marinette and Adrien were working for Hawk Moth, daring them to deny it.

They did, not that Alya believed them.

"Alya, _please_! You _have to_ believe me! I _didn't do anything_ to Lila!" Marinette had cried the last time Alya saw her, bruised and beaten, with bandages on her head and her leg in a cast.

"Sorry, but _I don't listen_ to lying, bullying monsters," Alya spat out, dumping the box's contents out.

As she left, she tore a beaded bracelet off her wrist and threw it down where its glass and ceramic baubles shattered on the tiled hospital floor. It was a friendship bracelet Marinette made for Alya's last birthday.

Her best friend... no, because of _her own actions_, Alya had no right to refer to Marinette Dupain-Cheng by _that_ term again... sobbed as Adrien forced the angry Creole girl out of the room, hissing with rage at her as he shoved her out the door.

Marinette hadn't been the monster; _she_ had. And _Lila_ had. What right did _she_ have to demand Marinette and Adrien listen to her now? She wasn't a good person, not anymore. She was unworthy of Ladybug's trust now, too. Because of what she'd done, the heroine could end up choosing a new bearer for Trixx.

Worse, her reputation as a reporter and the reputation of the Ladyblog were in the crapper now, thanks to Lila and her lies. When it came down to it, that was what Alya cared about, not the vindication of her former "bestie."

She tapped Marinette's number on her cell phone, ready to grovel for forgiveness. It rang once before she heard a tone and a recorded message:

"_We're sorry, you have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service. If you feel you have reached this recording in error, please check the number and try your call again._"

Marinette was gone.

***

**Chapter One Notes:** In case you're wondering why I labeled this a salt fic, it's because there is **some** salt in it, and I aimed that salt at the characters who actually deserve it: Lila, Gabriel, Nathalie, and Chloé for her part in _Miracle Queen_. Though there is some Alya salt in this, I don't hate her. I am rather disappointed in her, though. Real friends don't treat their friends like Alya tends to treat Marinette in canon.

I'm not trying to rewrite "Chameleon" or the rest of season three, but I am expanding on it some. As for Chloé, I saw all her so-called "trying to be a better person" was for naught when "Stormy Weather 2" aired and she caused Aurore's akumatization with her "once a villain, always a villain" crap.


End file.
